by George Schroeder, USA TODAY Sports

by George Schroeder, USA TODAY Sports

Their initial encounter made a dramatic impression. On the first play, Jadeveon Clowney got free and did what he does. In the immediate aftermath, as he studied another crushed quarterback, it was clear he had set a tone.

"(Everett Golson) just looked at me and said, 'It's gonna be a long game,'" Clowney recalls.

This was two years ago, before Clowney became a consensus All-America defensive end at South Carolina and well before Golson became Notre Dame's starting quarterback. But Clowney hasn't forgotten what happened after that sack in the South Carolina Class 3A high school state championship game between Golson's Myrtle Beach team and his own, from Rock Hill's South Pointe.

For an entire game, Clowney chased Golson around the backfield. He caught him several more times, but, yeah, it turned out to be a long game. "He just kept playing," Clowney says of Golson. And eventually, winning.

Ponder that as we consider, during the run-up to the Bowl Championship Series title game, how a redshirt freshman quarterback will fare against Alabama's defense. The Crimson Tide are fierce and formidable, but Golson has faced fire-breathing monsters before.

The story line for Notre Dame in Miami seems similar to what it has been all season: A dominant defense led by Heisman Trophy finalist Manti Te'o will attempt to carry an inconsistent offense. Everyone will watch and wait to see if Golson can handle the pressure. Yet those who know the quarterback best chuckle a bit at the narrative.

As in all of these overdone themes, there's some truth to it. Notre Dame's defense is very good. Recognizing the strength, and without proven playmakers at receiver, coach Brian Kelly throttled back on his offensive philosophy. The Irish lean heavily on running backs Theo Riddick, Cierre Wood and George Atkinson III. The goal is to control the clock, grind out drives and eke out points.

Golson's chief task has been to take care of the football. He's 6-0, 185 pounds, and his mobility has been an asset - he has rushed for 305 yards and five touchdowns. And as he has matured, his passing has improved - 58.9% completion rate for 2,135 yards and 11 touchdowns. More important, he has thrown five interceptions. Although the progress has been uneven, he has morphed more than occasionally into a playmaker.

Whatever Golson's role, even as the season mushroomed into something bigger than anyone had expected, teammates and coaches say there hasn't been a moment that felt too big for the freshman.

"He just has this poise about him that he never really gets rattled," says Riddick, who adds that Golson has grown more vocal in huddles and on the sideline. "That's helped him elevate his game."

Never rattled? Not when Golson was named the starter in August, when many assumed it was a temporary thing until Tommy Rees came back from suspension. Not when Rees came on in relief to lead fourth-quarter drives in several early games. Not even when, a week after a superlative performance against Oklahoma, he was benched briefly against Pittsburgh.

Throughout, Golson has seemed as confident in the role of starter as he is behind a piano. He grew up playing in church, and though he doesn't read music, he plays wonderfully by ear. "Everything is just kind of made up, improvised," he says. On Fridays before home games, Golson has become a regular in the lobby of the team hotel, playing R&B, jazz, worship songs and more.

"If you were able to compare his (football ability) to his piano style," Motta says, "he's able to pick a note up and run with it."

That improvisational ability might be Golson's best asset, especially when it comes to battling the Tide. Although Alabama routinely feasts on dropback passers, mobile quarterbacks - such as Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel - can cause serious trouble. Golson isn't Manziel, but he can move. In Notre Dame's most impressive victory, Golson propelled the Irish to a 30-13 win at Oklahoma. He ran for 64 yards and threw for 177.

"He led," Kelly said that night. "He actually led. He was communicating. He was talking. He was confident. He was calm. He was all the things you need to see from your quarterback when you're on the road against a very good opponent."

Keeping his focus

And as it turned out, he was all the things anyone needed to see to know Notre Dame was for real, that the Irish were relevant when it came to the BCS title conversation. And now, unbeaten and headed to Miami, good enough to take on the Southeastern Conference juggernaut.

But the next week, the Irish might have learned more about Golson when he struggled - when they struggled - at home against Pittsburgh. Ineffective, he was benched late in the first half. But trailing by two touchdowns and needing a spark, Kelly came to him on the sideline.

"We needed him back in the game," Kelly told news reporters after the game. "Our quarterback needed to be out there, mobile, outside the pocket, making plays. I asked if he was ready to go. He said he was."

When Golson returned, he rallied the Irish to force overtime, then scored the winning touchdown in the third extra period. Golson told reporters the benching "was good for me." But what was better, probably, was his response. He just kept playing.

He had a similar reaction after a tense win at Southern California that sealed Notre Dame's BCS title game berth. "As far as I'm concerned, my head is down," he said. "My foot's on the gas. I'm never going to look up and lose focus."

And again, no one who knows him is surprised.

"We knew he was going to do great things," says Mickey Wilson, Golson's coach at Myrtle Beach High. "It was just a matter of time."

Kind of like in the state championship game. After that opening sack, Clowney kept shooting past overwhelmed linemen all game, trying to crush the quarterback. In the first half, it worked. Golson struggled. Wilson recalled that Golson told him he had been worried after that first play. "But he's always had that confidence," Wilson said. "He handles adversity well. He just fights through it."

Golson directed three touchdown drives in the second half. In the fourth quarter, with Clowney chasing in vain, he won it.

"He rolled out right," Clowney says - and he shakes his head; this is something he'd rather not recall - "and he just sat back there. And then he hit a man deep behind us for a touchdown."

Surely many college defenders this season can relate.

There was a similar encounter of quarterback and defender in Notre Dame's win against Oklahoma. Late in the third quarter, Golson took off. Safety Tony Jefferson met him. The collision was tremendous, knocking the wind out of the quarterback. "Ridiculous," Golson said he thought at the time. But he kept playing, and, a few minutes later, he hit freshman receiver Chris Brown for a 50-yard touchdown.

When it was over, quarterback and safety met again on the field. This time Golson smiled big. "Good hit," he told Jefferson.

Both players laughed. And then, after another long game, Golson moved on.